Facts & Figures:

The University of Strathclyde is a large university in
Glasgow. Its name comes,
depending on your point of view, from the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde which
once included the area now occupied by
Glasgow: or from a Scottish
local government region which existed
from 1975 to 1996. The university has two campuses. The main John Anderson
Campus sits right at the heart of the city, with its buildings occupying much
of the considerable area between the city's Queen Street Station and
Glasgow Cathedral. It also has
an education campus in Jordanhill, though a 15 year £300m investment
program in the main campus will include the relocation to it of the facilities
currently at Jordanhill.

The university places considerable emphasis on useful learning, and
as a result many degrees and most teaching is directed towards producing
graduates who are closely fitted to the needs of future employers. As a result
it enjoys a reputation for excellence in commercially relevant research and
innovation and very strong links with business and industry. In addition to
over 25,000 undergraduate or postgraduate students, another 34,000 people take
part in continuing education and professional development programmes run by the
university.

Strathclyde takes a rounded view of the purpose of a university,
actively encouraging students to become involved in a wide range of student
activities. This may help explain why the student union building is one of the
largest in the UK. University accommodation is guaranteed for first year
students, and much of it is located on or around the John Anderson Campus.

History

The origins of the University of Strathclyde date back to the
foundation of the Anderson's Institution in 1796. The funds for its foundation
came from the bequest of John
Anderson, professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow who left instructions in his will
for the establishment of a university which would focus on what he called
"useful learning": specialising in practical and vocational subjects. In 1828
the Institution took on the name of Anderson's University, so delivering on
Anderson's vision of two universities in
Glasgow. It took until 1887 for
the name to be changed again because there had never been a legal basis for its
adoption of the title "university" nearly sixty years earlier.

The result was the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College.
This became the Royal Technical College in 1912, and the Royal College of
Science and Technology in 1956. In 1964, the Royal College merged with the
Scottish College of Commerce and received a royal charter granting it
university status as the University of Strathclyde. At the time it had 4,000
students, a figure that has since risen to over 25,000.